Yemeni Deputy PM: Saudi aggression serves Zionist-Western project
A senior Yemeni government official has described the Saudi government's role in the war against Yemen as merely instrumental, designed to advance the interests of the United States and the Zionist regime.
Major General Jalal al-Ruwaishan, Deputy Prime Minister of Yemen for Defense and Security Affairs, made the remarks in an exclusive interview with Al-Masirah television on Monday.
He said Riyadh’s participation in the more than 12-year aggression and blockade against Yemen is “functional and primarily serves Western and Zionist agendas.”
Al-Ruwaishan stressed that the Yemeni people have been waging a war of self-defense against this aggression. He warned that the growing Zionist presence in the Red Sea constitutes a direct threat to Arab national security.
The Yemeni official categorically rejected Saudi propaganda claiming that Sana’a endangers international shipping.
“Field realities confirm that maritime navigation through the Bab al-Mandab Strait is completely safe and normal,” he said. “All countries are convinced there is no Yemeni threat to shipping lanes, despite incitement by the Saudi regime.”
He cautioned that any state that acts on Riyadh’s false narrative and joins military action on that basis will be regarded by Sana’a as a partner in the aggression.
Al-Ruwaishan dismissed the fabricated Saudi claim of an attack on Mecca. He said the allegation was a pre-planned scenario intended to undermine the wave of support from the Islamic world for Yemen after Operation Al-Aqsa Storm and Sana’a’s principled stance in defense of Gaza and the Palestinian people.
The deputy prime minister noted that after sidelining the United Arab Emirates, Riyadh tried to reshuffle its assets and mercenary formations, harboring the deluded notion that Yemen would be an easy, readily attainable prize.
He added that the Saudi kingdom should have measured the cost of renewed escalation against the risks to its so-called Vision 2030 and its economic and investment situation.
Al-Ruwaishan accused Riyadh of creating Takfiri-oriented military units in an attempt to drag Yemenis into sectarian conflicts, a bet he described as a losing one because the Yemeni people historically reject foreign tutelage.
He recalled that Saudi interference had previously sabotaged the September 26 Revolution by managing Yemeni affairs down to the level of local officials. In contrast, the September 21 Revolution established the principle of liberation from domination and independent national decision-making, the real reason for Saudi hostility.
The official called on Riyadh to come to terms with the post-September 21 reality and recognize that the Yemeni people no longer accept external guardianship.
He said Saudi Arabia had reneged on a roadmap agreed through Omani mediation and that remaining Saudi-backed deployments would erode just as those on the western coast had done.
Yemen has repeatedly affirmed that its operations in the Red Sea target only vessels linked to the Zionist regime and its backers in response to the genocide in Gaza, while guaranteeing the safety of all other international shipping.
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